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The Kingdom Of Heaven

~ Wedding Feast ~

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).

Many times Jesus spoke in parables which are defined as a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Jesus tries to tell them through the these stories that they are throwing away a chance at redemption and everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven. They only need to accept Him as their Savior. Sometimes the people of that time did not understand the parables Jesus told as they were hearing it or maybe thy just turned a blind “ear” to such stories. In any case, we are blessed in that we can read them over and over again to gain understanding, and through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can understand even deeper messages of a particular story.

Starting in Matthew 22:1-3, it reads like this, ”And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.” At this time, we must remember just who Jesus is speaking to with this parable. If we go back to Mathew 21:23, it tells us who He is speaking with, “And when He was come into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee authority?”  These are the leaders of Israel and a chosen people (the ones that were “bidden” to come in the parable) but they were rejecting the words of Jesus.

Continuing in Matthew 22: 4-6, “Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.” In the Old Testament, we can read of the prophets that were sent to show the children of Israel the way of the Lord and to tell them to repent of their evil ways. Come back to the Lord, they would say, and only through Him could they have salvation. In John 3: 19, Jesus put it this way, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” We read of the prophets that were treated harshly and even killed because men did not want hear what they were teaching. This is what Jesus is referring to in the parable.

Continuing on, “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage” (Matthew 22:7-9).

Jesus is always ready to save anyone who accepts Him as our Lord and Savior (John 6:37), but there will be many who reject what he offers. Although he will continue to try to bring them back in the fold, there comes a time when His voice is so faint they will not hear Him anymore and will be lost (Unpardonable Sin). Right now He is gathering as many as He can that will accept Him because He does not want any to be lost (2 Peter 3:9).

“So the servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests” (Matthew 22:10). Did you catch that? It says both good and bad. Remember there is nothing we have done that Jesus cannot forgive. He is calling all to Him; we just need to heed His call and allow Him to cover us in his righteousness and He will change us from within (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Then there are some who will try to come in anyway not having the right garment for the wedding feast. What is this garment this next verse speaking about?  There is only One who can cover us with His righteous robe and His name is Jesus (Zechariah 3:4). Some will say that they have Jesus in their hearts but do they really (Matthew 25:1-13)? Jesus says you will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7: 16). In the rest of this parable, the king realizes that there is someone who is trying to come in by his own merits. The wedding garment was given freely at the door and he did not have one. In John 10:9, Jesus says, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

Continuing in Matthew 22: 11-14 “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither (here) not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

There is only one way to enter the Kingdom of God and that is through His Son, Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, says,”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation…” So not only will Jesus change us, He will equip us to share the good news with others!

~ The Sower ~

Perhaps have heard this parable told to you or you have read it yourselves but they always have meaning or Jesus would have never used them to teach His disciples and others about the Kingdom of God.  In this next parable, we see just who the sower of the seed is and He is warning us that we have a strong enemy that is trying to separate us from our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God.

Matthew 13:24-30 states, “Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto and man which sowed good seed in his field: But while the man slept, his enemy came and sowed tares (weeds)  among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

As I was typing this up a couple of thoughts came to mind. First, when the blade brought up fruit then the tares came. I mentioned in one of the other sections that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches bringing forth fruit. Meaning we are trying to reach others with the message that Jesus is coming soon and we need to be ready. The only way to fight off the devil’s attacks is to seek and know Jesus intimately through His Word (read about how Jesus overcame the attacks in Matthew 4:1-11).

And then we see the tares come up to “damage the fruits” and we need to be aware of how that is taking place. How can we withstand the “tares” influence in our lives if we do not know what the Bible says? Remember He will be separating the wheat and the tares come harvest time.

The second thing I noticed is his servants come to the sower asking if they should gather the tares for him, but he says let them grow together until harvest and he will do the separating.  Sometimes we, as His servants, want to do the weeding but think about what can happen when this happens.  We can become judgmental and prideful with a “better than thou” attitude. In essence, we can become the very “tares” we want to uproot for our Savoir.  Besides who’s to say that the influence of the “fruit” will change the “tares” before harvest time.  That is why we leave the separating to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I know of some that leave a church because of the judgmental attitude they have encountered. My prayer is that this will not hinder you from finding the love and grace found in Jesus. Never rely on what human beings say or do, whether in a church setting or not, because he or she may disappoint you. We are human with human weaknesses. The Scripture says this, “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and this, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).    We are all sinners in need of a Savior and we are all given into His hand by the Father. And He is the only One that will never disappoint us!

~ The Sower of Seeds~

Now hear another of Jesus’ parable about a Sower of Seeds. We often wonder what happens with individual as they hear the Word of God and this parable is a great example.

Let’s go back a bit in Chapter 13 of Matthew but starting with verses 3-9, “And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell on stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them: But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

In the previous parable, we understand that the Sower is Jesus. And here the same is true. We know that Jesus’ disciples spread the gospel, but ultimately Jesus is the Word, “And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God” (Revelation 19:13).

So the disciples had questions about the parable and Jesus explains the meaning, “Hear ye the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understand it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received the seed by the wayside” (Matthew 13:18, 19).

Have you ever heard someone say the Bible is too hard to read or understand? Well this is the time the devil can step in and tell us it is too hard. Or maybe the “I just don’t have time to read.” What about this one? Let’s let the preacher, pastor, priest,or pope tell us what the Bible says (one of the most dangerous ways). Do we know that what they are saying is true? How do we know? Have we checked? Have we read for ourselves? These are great questions we should ask ourselves, because there will be people (like sands of the sea) that will be deceived in the end (Revelation 13:14-18). And the end is coming very soon. Just look around and you can see it happening. (If you want to have a great understanding of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, I found this to be a great resource- Revelation series by Kenneth Cox).

The next section, Matthew 13:20 reads, “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it; Yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended (stumbles).” Remember Jesus is our vine and we nee to be “rooted” through Him. (John 15:1-10).

Have you heard of individuals that fall away from the Lord because they lost someone or are having a difficult time in their life? They feel they are alone. Folks, we need to reach out to our Jesus at these times. This is the time to grow closer to our Lord not away from Him! He has promised to bring us through whatever it is that we are going through. He never promised we would not have tribulation. In fact Jesus says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In this world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In Him we have peace and assurance that He will be with us through anything that comes our way.

The next verse, verse 22, discusses the thorns. “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”  This was mentioned earlier. Some say they are too busy to take the time to read the Bible and commune with God. Others may think going to church (leaving  their knowledge of the word up to the sermon leader) once a week is the answer and that is all they need. Remember in the previous parable that Jesus overcame Satan’s attacks by quoting Scripture. Remember, also, that Satan knows Scripture, too, and can deceive us (Genesis 3:1-7). We need study for ourselves the truths of the Bible, because the attacks will be different for everyone. But most importantly, we need to rely on Jesus’ promises to be able to stand in these last days.

And the last of the parable in Matthew 13:23 reads, “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Once we have the great news of our Lord Jesus and what He has done in our lives, we need to share (bringing forth fruit). When we really study and see who our Jesus is and what He is done for us it is hard to contain that within ourselves. I’ll be honest when I first came back to church, I was going to be that one who came to church once a week. But the Lord, He changed me. As soon as prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill me while reading His word, He showed me verses I had read before; but now the verses had meaning and a love so big for Jesus that it is amazing. A relationship with Him is the key. The whole Bible is about Jesus from the beginning to the end. He is the only One who can save us. be He provided Himself as a sacrifice in our place so we can go home with Him when He comes again really, really soon, to take us home!

~ A Parable Connection~

Let’s go back a bit and talk about the verse in Matthew 13:20 reads, “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it; Yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended (stumbles).”  Here is another parable that is very important that I think connects with this verse very well. In Luke 11:21-23 Jesus’ parable states this. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are at peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.”  We must be strong in the Lord or the enemy can come in take the most important thing from us—Jesus.

Jesus promised to take care of us (1 Peter 5:7). He never promised that we would not have trials through our lives, but He promises to weather the storm with us and we become stronger for it. God said, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10). (Jesus IS the right hand of God, see Isaiah 39:10-11)

One of my favorite verses comes from Ephesians and tells us just Whose armor we must rely on, “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6: 10-12). We see this today in the evilness that surrounds us. Jesus is coming very soon! So how do we combat this evilness and how do we make it through? “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth (see Revelation 19:11), and having on the breastplate of righteousness (see Isaiah 61:10); and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (see John 14:27); Above all, taking the shield of faith (see Revelation 14:12), wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation (see Hebrews 2:10), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (see Revelation 19:13): Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

If we have looked up each of the verses that were added, we shall see that there is only one way to stand through these last days, and His name is Jesus. He has been given the power to save all who come to Him. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). Therefore He can save us all, “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Ask for Him to come into your heart and amazing things happen, the worries of this world fade and He fills us with His peace!